PVC silkie tractor = UPDATE - Post #13 ALMOST DONE! -PIC Heavy!

[ScaredOfShadows]

Okay so yes I've gotten a case of the spring fever myself and took to heart with a power drill and a hammer

I have been working on this for say 2 weeks, havent made much progress because of rain, my daughter, and a beach vacation last weekend...

Details: The idea was to built a cheapo coop with stuff I already had and stuff I could get off freecycle and from people i knew for as little $ as possible, and buying no more than I had to. So far I've spent say 35$ towards it all, though the paint I bought will be more than plenty for this project and will go to painting the next doghouse I plan to build XD so there will be no waste.

Today! 6/5/10 SATURDAY :
Run = PVC and wood frame

Coop a pallet crate frame that I picked up from a warehouse for free

I will be adding nesting boxes on the outside, 1 maybe 2 on each side, just so it looks symmetrical and nicer. But the coop is going to pretty old fashion looking no matter how I do it. lol. it is after all a 'recycle' or as my dad called it a 'once upon a time was junk coop' - lol

 

[snowydiamonds]

Eagerly awaiting pics, that hoop construction might be a good cold frame idea for me, too

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=344460

this is Suzegg's huge PVC tractor...It looks amazing! mine is going to be very low scale compared to hers and my coop box itself will look old timey because most of the wood i'm using is aged red and white oak.

Yeah at this point today I've gotten the crate re-inforced so it doesn't wobble at all, one side of plyboard tacked on, the other two PVC pipes up on the run, the braces up, and tomorrow if the rain holds off I will finish painting the run and its braces and tack up the wire!

P.S. i am crazy I forgot to put the hole in the front of my coop before I tacked the board on!!!! lmao

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Whoot I got the wire up on one side, now got to do other side, and I have to go pick up 2 pieces of plyboard from a friend who has some left over and go buy a roof.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

I'm just bumping it XD i've been up since 6am its now nearly 11pm and i'm bored and tired but can't sleep, too many chicky ideas in my head. lol.

 

[laughaha]

Nice looking coop- I'm guessing it is 4' x 8' run and 4' cube coop? I like how you painted the poles- very nice touch. You know, if you paint the coop, it should tie everything together reallly well and make it look even nicer. Can't wait to see the updated pics.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Thats about right. I used what I had on hand and could easily get free or cheap for this coop, its more of an idea to recycle than pure necissity, plus as much as I love my chickens my real money goes into my indoor pets (dogs, cats, cockatiels)...but yeah the run is 7' long X 5' wide, the coop is 4.5 X 4.5 (dont ask why its so off kilter on the scale lol) Yes I will end up painting the coop red and later add on trim that will be white so it will have an old clapboard barn look and feel.

 

[Woods_Woman]

Looking good. I always liked this tractor that is posted in the coop section https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=22688-kycklingars-4x10-tractor

Your doing great, and your chickens will love it.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Woods I'd seen that one the other week right after I decided i was using PVC...I have had alot of flipping around on the design of mine. I love it because I can always decide to build a bigger coop part and just add on to the run, or fix another one very similar to it and into a large permenant coop.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

I've already found uses for some of scraps i've had from the coop so far. I hated seeing the cut off bits of wood sitting in a pile from the coop and the shed a few weeks ago...so I thought about it while I was feeding the rabbit (he has a good size hutch and he's a mini lop - which aren't mini they are BIG) and so i made him a ledge in there as something extra to get under and chill or jump up on and check stuff out, and have a bit of extra floor space. Its just 2 cuttings 6" 2X4 pieces screwed onto a scrap piece of warped plyboard. so he has a little ledge in there. its pretty neat. I love using scraps. The other pieces of untreated wood, rabbits like to chew on, so I put him a piece in every week and then use the old chewed on piece with my charcoal and stuff when i cook out.

again = I hate to waste and I love to use stuff. especially stuff that costs money. my scraps from my table? go to my animals to fill their stomachs, alittle less food I have to buy for them from the feed store and no extra junk to go in the trash. if its something the animals can't eat i throw it in the compost heap.